Latest On Kevin Durant
The Suns haven’t put out any sort of formal press release updating the status of Kevin Durant‘s left ankle injury, but head coach Mike Budenholzer confirmed on Tuesday that the timeline reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania on Monday is accurate. Charania indicated that Durant has been diagnosed with a sprained ankle and will miss at least a week, meaning he’ll be sidelined for the team’s ongoing three-game road trip.
“As of now, we don’t expect him to join us on the trip,” Budenholzer acknowledged on Tuesday, per ESPN.
The Suns’ road trip began on Tuesday with a loss in Milwaukee. They’ll travel to Boston to face the Celtics on Friday before visiting the Knicks in New York on Sunday. After that, Phoenix would have just four games left in the season, but Budenholzer said the team remains optimistic that Durant will be able to return at some point during that final week.
“We’re certainly hopeful,” Budenholzer said. “I think these first few days will be important, but we’re hopeful he’ll be back before end of the season.”
The Suns’ willingness to bring back Durant at the end of the season figures to depend in large part on whether the team’s play-in hopes are still alive. After a fourth consecutive loss on Tuesday, Phoenix is now 35-41 and trails the No. 10 Kings (36-39) by a game and a half in the Western Conference standings.
We have more on Durant:
- Within a larger feature on the Suns’ disappointing season, Logan Murdock of The Ringer reports that a Durant trade this offseason isn’t necessarily a foregone conclusion. League sources tell Murdock that the star forward would be “open to a return,” even though most people around the NBA are expecting him to be on the move.
- Devin Booker, for one, is hopeful that this won’t be Durant’s last season in Phoenix. “Hell yeah, I want to play alongside him,” Booker told Murdock. “The team’s been in a tough situation. So, that’s the NBA today. I think K understands the business too, that when things aren’t going the right way, people are going to explore options. I don’t know how serious it actually was, but we moved past it. You see his morale, you see how he feels about the city.”
- According to Murdock, a sideline argument between Durant and Budenholzer during a game against the Lakers last month stemmed from Durant “pleading” with his coach to simplify certain offensive concepts for the benefit of the club’s younger players. The former MVP downplayed that brief confrontation in his post-game remarks.
Suns Notes: Durant, Budenholzer, Plumlee, Booker
Kevin Durant‘s relationship with Suns coach Mike Budenholzer has been an ongoing storyline for several weeks, and Durant offered some insight after this morning’s shootaround, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The topic arose again after Durant snapped at Budenholzer during a timeout in Sunday’s game at Los Angeles (Twitter video link).
“I don’t say, ‘Coach, we’ve got to do this.’ It’s his team,” Durant told reporters. “I’m there to be of assistance. If he needs me to do anything. If I got some suggestions on what may happen, I’m asking him. I’m not telling him what to do. I’m asking him, ‘Yo, Coach, what you think, we should do this right here?’ If he doesn’t think so, all right, then I’ll move on.”
A potential rift between Durant and Budenholzer has been one of the subplots of a disappointing season in Phoenix. Budenholzer is in his first season with the team after replacing Frank Vogel last summer, and Sunday’s incident was the latest evidence of possible tension behind the scenes. In a March 4 game, Durant was seen slapping away Budenholzer’s hand while returning to the huddle.
However, Durant has been supportive of his coach in his public comments, and he believes his long career gives him the right to offer input when he thinks it’s appropriate.
“I’ve never been that guy telling somebody what to do,” Durant said, “but I’ve been in the league for a long time and if I see something, Coach gives me the leeway to come to him if I see something out there that may be different. I think everyone on the team has that type of confidence to go to Coach with that stuff. I’m not telling him what he needs to do. I’m listening and giving suggestions and if it helps, it helps. If he doesn’t take it, then you move on to the next thing.”
There’s more from Phoenix:
- After losing to the Lakers on Sunday, the Suns responded with one of their best games of the season the next night in a 40-point win over Toronto. In a separate story, Rankin notes that injuries to Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen created more playing time for newcomer Cody Martin and rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro, who provide a better defensive foundation. “(Martin) does a little bit of everything,” Devin Booker said. “But most importantly, he’s been vocal even in the times that he hasn’t been in the game, and just seeing things that he sees out there, and it translates. And you know, it was a big part of what we did today.”
- Backup center Mason Plumlee will miss tonight’s game against Chicago with a left quad strain. Budenholzer isn’t sure when it happened, saying it might be “a little bit of a cumulative effect,” tweets Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. Budenholzer adds that the team will monitor Plumlee for the next 24 to 48 hours in hopes that it’s not more serious.
- Owner Mat Ishbia stated last week that trading Booker this summer would be “silly,” but Mark Deeks of HoopsHype lists four potential landing spots for Booker in the event that the Suns change their minds. Deeks views the Pistons, Thunder, Rockets and Knicks as the best options.
Suns Still Hoping To Salvage Disappointing Season
Kevin Durant‘s heated sideline exchange with coach Mike Budenholzer (Twitter video link) may be the only positive to come out of the Suns‘ loss to the Lakers on Sunday, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. It suggests that Durant is still locked in enough to care about the team amid widespread reports that he plans to ask for a trade this summer.
Durant and his teammates are struggling to make up ground on the 10th-place Mavericks, whose season is imploding amid a constant string of injuries. Phoenix has gone just 4-6 in its last 10 games and remains a game and a half behind Dallas with less than four weeks to play.
“This group is — there’s still (14) games left. We need to get into the play-in, we need to get into the playoffs and try and do something there,” Budenholzer said. “Like, there is a lot of talent in our locker room. There is a lot of fight in our locker room. So we got to get in (the play-in), and then we got to play good basketball, win games. But we got to start winning to get there, (and) I think the guys know that. And I think the mindset and the fight, in the first quarter, wasn’t where it needs to be.”
Budenholzer dismissed the latest run-in with Durant, saying it involved defensive rotations and calling it “pretty normal stuff.” Durant didn’t talk to reporters after the game, according to Vardon, telling them he was going to shower first and then quickly slipping out of the locker room after he was done.
Vardon states that there’s no easy explanation for what has gone wrong with the Suns, who looked like one of the NBA’s best teams in October and early November with an 8-1 start. There’s plenty of firepower on the roster with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal playing alongside Durant, and the front office thought it had upgraded the coaching staff by hiring Budenholzer, who has an NBA title on his resume.
Some observers have labeled Beal a disappointment, but Vardon points out that he has been playing pretty well as a third option, averaging 17.3 PPG while shooting better than 50% from the floor and nearly 40% from three-point range. However, Beal suffered a hamstring injury on Sunday that prevented him from playing in the second half and he’s considered questionable for tonight’s game against Toronto.
Phoenix is 27th in the league in defensive rating, and Budenholzer cited the need to improve in that area several times after Sunday’s loss. Vardon also notes that the three-point shooting has been inconsistent as the Suns missed 18 of their first 20 attempts from beyond the arc against the Lakers.
“I think it’s more than one thing,” Booker said. “In spots, we’ve shown we can do it, and that’s what makes it even more frustrating. We have a game like last game (a 122-106 win over Sacramento), and then we come in and miss a few shots, which affects our defense, which, you know, affects our offense. So, it’s a domino effect. If you’re playing with energy and effort, you know, you can sleep well at night, regardless. And I don’t think we’re doing that right now.”
Mat Ishbia: Suns Won’t Trade Devin Booker
Major changes could be coming to the Suns this summer, but they won’t include a trade of Devin Booker, team owner Mat Ishbia told Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Ishbia admits the team has fallen far short of expectations as it faces a desperate race to overtake Dallas and sneak into the play-in tournament as the 10th seed. But even if Phoenix misses out on the postseason, Ishbia plans to rebuild around the 28-year-old guard rather than consider trade offers.
“Never happen,” Ishbia said about the possibility of parting with Booker. “It’s silly. So here’s what I’ll tell you: I have Devin Booker in the prime. In order to win an NBA championship, you got to have a superstar. You got to have a great player.”
Sources tell MacMahon that the Rockets have made several calls about Booker, but have failed to gain any traction. Houston is uniquely positioned to leverage a deal, holding swap rights for the Suns’ first-round pick this year, along with the team’s unprotected first-rounders in 2027 and 2029. All those assets were originally sent to Brooklyn in the Durant trade two years ago.
Booker is likewise committed to staying in Phoenix and has no plans to request a trade, according to MacMahon. He went through four extreme losing seasons early in his career before helping turn the Suns into a winner and eventually reaching the Finals in 2021. He’s ready to repeat that process and wants to spend his entire career with one franchise. He has shared his intentions with Ishbia, CEO Josh Bartlestein and general manager James Jones, MacMahon adds.
“I take pride in the community in Phoenix, the people that have supported me since I was 18 when things were ugly,” Booker said. “And the people that are with us, we just fell short of accomplishing what we want. So I want to do it, and I want to do it here. That’s the responsibility of being a franchise player, and I wear that with honor. So it might not look the most pretty right now, but we got to get it done and I’m going to do it.”
There’s far less certainty surrounding Kevin Durant, who’s widely expected to be on the move this summer. Durant admitted being “blindsided” when his name came up in trade talks before last month’s deadline, and there’s heavy speculation that he’ll want to continue his career somewhere else next season. Durant, who will turn 37 in September, has one year left on his contract at $54.7MM.
A potential deal with the Warriors died when Durant said he didn’t want to return to the Bay Area. Sources tell MacMahon that Phoenix also discussed frameworks of Durant trades with the Timberwolves, Heat and Rockets, with some of those sources pointing to the Knicks as a possible fit. Houston officials told ESPN that the Suns called them to gauge their interest in Durant.
MacMahon’s sources said Suns management will consult with Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman on any trade discussions that take place this summer. Durant will be eligible to sign a two-year, $122MM extension with his new team.
Ishbia indicated that a Durant trade will be one of many strategies the front office plans to explore once the season ends.
“I’ll just say that we’re going to evaluate in the offseason,” Ishbia said. “We’re going to find a way to win, and it’s probably a lot easier winning with Kevin Durant than without him. But at the same time, yes, if we’re not good enough in this iteration of the Phoenix Suns, we’re going to find a way to be better next year. “
Bradley Beal, who was reluctant to waive his no-trade clause to help the Suns complete a deal for Jimmy Butler, suggested to MacMahon that he might be more open to changing teams during the offseason. Beal, who was demoted to a bench role in January and February, feels like he has been disrespected at times.
“It is a different deal in the summer,” he said. “Everything is kind of more laid out on the table. You got more options.”
Pacific Notes: Durant, Booker, Kings, Lakers, D. Green
If the Suns trade Kevin Durant this offseason, the “most ideal” return would be three first-round picks and a young player, as well as enough salary relief to move below the second tax apron, sources tell Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
Rankin’s wording leaves some room for interpretation. It’s not clear if his sources believe that’s the sort of return the Suns would be seeking or what they could realistically expect to acquire — or if it’s simply their view of what a best-case scenario for the franchise would look like.
Although Durant continues to play at an extremely high level, his age (37 in the fall) and contract situation (he’ll be entering a contract year) will be factors working against the Suns as they try to extract the best possible package.
Within the same story, Rankin cites sources who suggest the Suns could probably acquire four first-round picks and a “rising star in his third or fourth year” in exchange for Devin Booker, who is eight years younger than Durant and is under team control through 2028. However, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) issues a reminder that Phoenix’s stance on Booker hasn’t changed — the team still has no intention of making him available.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Kings guard Malik Monk returned on Monday from a three-game absence due to a toe sprain and scored 21 points, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. It wasn’t nearly enough for the Kings, who suffered a 29-point home loss to the Knicks on the second end of a back-to-back and are now two games back of the No. 8 seed in the West. As Anderson details in a separate Sacramento Bee story, center Jonas Valanciunas referred to the loss as “embarrassing,” while interim head coach Doug Christie offered a similar assessment. “There are absolutely no excuses in this league,” Christie said. “The league does not care about back-to-backs, injuries, nothing. That was brutal from the physicality standpoint. They didn’t feel us at all, and our guys know that is totally unacceptable, whoever is out on the floor.”
- Over on the other coast, Lakers head coach J.J. Redick wasn’t happy with the effort he saw from his team in a three-point loss to the Nets in Brooklyn. Redick referred to it as a “very low-level communication game” and told reporters that injuries to key players – including LeBron James – should be no excuse, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I think it was just an overall mentality just to take shortcuts tonight,” Redick said. “Want to be a good team? You want to win in the NBA? You got to do the hard stuff. We couldn’t even pass to each other. We couldn’t enter our offense, running ball screens literally at half court. Yeah, that’s going to end up in a turnover. I don’t know what we’re doing.”
- Trayce Jackson-Davis, Quinten Post, and Kevon Looney have combined to make 53 starts this season, but Draymond Green continues to play at the five during most end-game situations and has been the Warriors‘ starting center for eight of 11 games since the All-Star break. He’s OK with that. “I knew it would come down to this,” Green said, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. “But I just didn’t have much interest in doing it for 82 games. Because it’s a lot. To anchor a defense. To play the five, you’re in every action. People downhill at you. It’s a different responsibility on the body. … But if you can’t do it for 29 games, it’s over, champ.”
Stein’s Latest: Davis, Lively, Mavs, Durant, Billups, More
Perhaps the most interesting development in Sunday’s matchup between Phoenix and Dallas was something that took place off the court, as Mavericks big man Anthony Davis was on the bench and was “clearly itching to play,” according to NBA insider Marc Stein (Substack link).
Stein hears that Davis played some 2-on-2 over the weekend for the first time since he strained his left adductor on February 8 in his Dallas debut.
League sources tell Stein that both Davis and Dereck Lively, who is on the mend from a stress fracture in his right ankle, are on track to get healthy before the end of the season. However, that doesn’t mean they’ll actually suit up again for the Mavericks in 2024/25.
Amid a brutal wave of injuries, including losing Kyrie Irving to a torn ACL, the Mavs have dropped five straight games and are only 1.5 games ahead of Phoenix for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. And even if they hold onto the No. 10 seed, they’d have to win two straight road games in the play-in tournament to advance as the No. 8 seed, only to face the top-seeded Thunder in the first round.
As Stein observes, any hope the Mavericks had of another deep playoff run have been extinguished. Prioritizing the team’s odds of securing a lottery pick — and avoiding the possibility of Davis and Lively re-injuring themselves — is the most logical path for Dallas to take for the remainder of ’24/25.
Here’s more from Stein:
- Although the Mavericks have been “repeatedly described” as a possible suitor for Suns forward Kevin Durant, both before and after last month’s trade deadline, Stein hears Dallas’ interest in Durant has been “overstated.” The Mavs’ depth would take a major blow if they try to trade for Durant, Stein notes, and they also lack future draft capital, which is why focusing on landing a lottery pick in June’s draft makes sense. Retaining Irving, who holds a $44MM player option for ’25/26, is a “priority” for Dallas, per Stein.
- When asked by Stein how strange it was to play in Dallas knowing that the Mavericks traded away Luka Doncic, Suns guard Devin Booker replied, “You can feel it. You can feel it when you land.”
- Scouts and executives from around the NBA are very curious what the future holds for Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, according to Stein. Before — and even during — the season, many around the league believed the two sides were destined to part ways, but Portland’s improved play has observers wondering if the team will exercise its option on Billups or perhaps give him a new contract. If the Blazers decide not to retain Billups, he would become an “in-demand coaching free agent,” Stein writes.
- Hawks head coach Quin Snyder, Wizards assistant Adam Caporn, former Germany head coach Gordon Herbert, and veteran NBA assistant Will Weaver are among the the candidates to be named the next head coach of Australia’s national team, according to Stein. The Boomers finished in sixth place at the 2024 Olympics in Paris after claiming their first medal in men’s basketball — a bronze — in Tokyo.
KD: Suns “Embarrassed Ourselves” In Latest Loss
The 2024/25 season is starting to slip away from the Suns. After leading by two at halftime against Minnesota on Sunday, Phoenix was routed in the second half, ultimately losing by 18 points.
“We didn’t play up to our standards at all,” All-Star forward Kevin Durant said (story via David Brandt of The Associated Press). “We embarrassed the fans and we embarrassed ourselves the way we played. I want us to be better.”
As Brandt writes, the Phoenix is just 3-11 in its past 14 games and is now 28-33 on the season, four games behind Dallas for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. The Suns are closer in the standings to the teams directly beneath them — Portland (27-34) and San Antonio (25-34) — than they are to the Mavs (32-29).
“We’ve got to go on a run, but it’s got to start,” head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “There’s no doubt that the standings, the circumstances that we’re in, there’s an awareness and we’ve got to do something to change it.”
The Suns made the playoffs outright last season, avoiding the play-in by finishing with a 49-33 record, good for the No. 6 seed in the West. However, they were swept by the Wolves in the first round, leading to the dismissal of former head coach Frank Vogel. Sunday marked Phoenix’s seventh straight loss to Minnesota, notes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
Phoenix failed to match Minnesota’s “physicality” in the second half, according to Devin Booker, with giveaways also being a major issue — the Suns tied a season high with 22 turnovers, leading to 40 points for the Wolves. Durant, Booker and Bradley Beal combined for 14 of the team’s 22 turnovers.
“That’s why we lost,” Durant said, per Brandt. “Forty points off turnovers, tough to overcome that. They didn’t overpower us on the glass, we just gave them the ball.”
NBA insider Chris Haynes recently reported that Budenholzer told Booker to “tone it down vocally” during games, which surprised the star guard. Booker subsequently suggested that the team could use more vocal leadership.
However, prior to Sunday’s game, Booker downplayed any rift with his coach, Rankin relays in another story.
“We’ve had multiple conversations. I can’t seem to find one that sticks out more than the others,” Booker said. “It’s a player/coach relationship. When things start going bad, everybody tries to point fingers to find out what’s wrong. People are going to come up with stuff. The relationship is great. We’re on the same page, we’re trying to win and that’s that.”
Pacific Notes: Budenholzer, Booker, Bol, Jemison, Goodwin, Curry
Weeks ago, Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer reportedly called on star Devin Booker to “tone it down vocally” during games, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link). According to Haynes, Booker was surprised at the request.
As Haynes points out, Booker seemed to allude to that conversation during his post-game remarks on Thursday when he discussed what the Suns need to do to improve amid a stretch that’s seen them drop out of the play-in picture in the West.
“It can be fixed with just a little more talking I’d say,” Booker said. “Things get tough, we get quiet as a team and from my experience and what I’ve seen, that’s not the way to get through it.”
Budenholzer addressed the report on Friday, per Duane Rankin of Arizona Republic. According to the championship-winning coach, he and Booker talk often and have a healthy relationship and dialogue.
“Devin always starts with himself,” Budenholzer said. “He’s always pushing us to be better. Devin is awesome and his communication is awesome. His style is great. I get it, I understand. I don’t have a lot more to say. There’s conversations I have with Devin all the time. I’m good with those conversations. We don’t always agree on everything. I think he actually appreciates it, I appreciate it. I’ll leave it there.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- The Suns have leaned heavily recently on Bol Bol, who has started five of their past eight games. He’s been impressive in those five starts, averaging 19.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 55.2% from the field and 41.2% from three (on 6.8 attempts per game). His strong play drew praise from teammate Kevin Durant, per PHNX Sports (Twitter link). “I think a lot of younger players can learn from how he approaches the game,” Durant said of Bol. “And it’s not as glamorized, people don’t think that about Bol, because he’s so quiet and unassuming, but he’s a pro’s pro, and he’s shown that ever since he came here to Phoenix. And ever since he’s been my teammate, I’ve been blown away by how hard he works, how much he cares, how much he wants to go out there and play well, how great of a teammate he is.“
- Two-way center Trey Jemison played a big role in the Lakers‘ win over the Clippers, recording five points and six rebounds in 22 minutes. As Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times points out (via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin’s Twitter), the Lakers are 10-0 this season when Jemison plays. The big man said he’s impressed with how L.A.’s bench is shaping up in the late stretch of the season. “If you want this win, you have to come fight us. Literally fight us,” Jemison said of the bench identity, per The Athletic Jovan Buha (Twitter link).
- Another two-way player for the Lakers has also stood out as of late — in his eight games with Los Angeles, Jordan Goodwin is averaging 6.1 points and 1.3 steals. According to Buha (Twitter link), head coach JJ Redick said he foresees Goodwin continuing to play a rotation role moving forward. The Lakers don’t have any roster spots open and two-way players aren’t eligible for the playoffs, so if they want Jemison or Goodwin to have a role in the postseason rotation, they’d have to clear spots for one or both by waiving players on guaranteed deals.
- Stephen Curry‘s 56 points on Thursday emphasized the fact that he and the Warriors are still worth monitoring as a potential contender, Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic writes. While Thompson suggests it may be premature to call the Warriors true contenders, he notes that Curry continues to prove there are few players in the league worth taking over him in a seven-game series.
Pacific Notes: Booker, Durant, Curry, Kuminga, Clippers
The Suns dropped five games below .500 with a loss to the Pelicans on Thursday. Devin Booker expressed his frustration after Phoenix lost for the 10th time in 12 games.
“Skipping over the details and always taking the ‘get ’em next game’ mentality,” Booker said, per Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “At some point, you got to draw a line and should’ve been drawn a long time ago.”
Kevin Durant was also exasperated but chose his words carefully.
“I don’t want to say the wrong thing and people take it out of context. So I’m just going to agree that we got to be better,” he said.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Stephen Curry had a magical night against the Magic on Thursday, pouring in 56 points, including a dozen 3-pointers. Curry reached the 50-point mark for the 14th time in his career. Warriors coach Steve Kerr feels Curry has been energized by the Jimmy Butler trade, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “He’s the one that keeps using the term ‘meaningful basketball,’” Kerr said. “Which I love. It’s so eloquent and humble. Steph just wants to play meaningful basketball. You can see we’re now in the fight, in the mix. This is what Steph loves. As great a player and shooter as he is, his competitiveness is probably his most underrated quality. He was dying to be back in the mix. Now we’re back in the mix. He’s energized by that.”
- Jonathan Kuminga has gone through three scrimmages, including one full-court scrimmage, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets. However, Kuminga’s return isn’t imminent, according to Kerr, as the Warriors are playing it cautious with their young forward. Kuminga hasn’t played since Jan. 4 due to an ankle injury.
- The Clippers are suffering from chemistry issues due to a number of factors, Janis Carr of the Orange County Register writes. They were in a good flow earlier in the season but roster moves and injuries have disrupted the rotation. They are 4-6 this month, with a pair of three-game losing streaks.
Suns Rumors: Durant, Booker, Deadline, Buyout Market, More
Several teams reportedly made “last-ditch efforts” to trade for Suns star Kevin Durant after a deal with the Warriors fell through when the former league MVP made it clear he wasn’t interested in returning to Golden State. Phoenix and Miami also reportedly discussed swapping Durant and Jimmy Butler before the Heat wound up trading the disgruntled star to the Warriors.
Where does that leave Durant’s future with the Suns? ESPN’s Brian Windhorst discussed that topic on the latest Hoop Collective podcast, suggesting that Durant could be the one seeking an exit this summer after being caught off guard by seeing his name pop up in rumors.
“The prevailing thing from the trade deadline day was what didn’t happen, which was Kevin Durant stayed put,” Windhorst said (hat tip to RealGM). “He was not happy he was put into trade talks.
“I think it’s unpredictable what will happen for the next few months because it’s the nature of the sport, but I think right now it is reasonable to forecast that Durant will be breaking up with the Suns in the summer. He didn’t break up with them today, but it doesn’t look good for the long-term forecast because he was really frustrated.
“I spent a long time today on the phone with people involved with this situation. People from Miami. People from Golden State. People from Phoenix. Other people. I would just say that the biggest thing Kevin Durant was upset about, I think, not knowing he was involved in trade talks. … Generically, a star player of his level likes to be involved in trade talks. That was an issue. The thing about it was the Suns ended up not getting anything (besides a salary-dump trade).”
For what it’s worth, a Suns source who spoke to Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports pushed back on how available Durant really was on the trade market, even though multiple other sources confirmed to Bourguet that the Warriors deal was very close to being finalized.
Here’s more on the Suns:
- After his ESPN colleagues Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon advocated for Phoenix to trade Devin Booker to fully remake the roster in the summer, Windhorst said the four-time All-Star has a strong desire to remain with the Suns. “I have to say, I don’t think they’re going to trade Devin Booker,” Windhorst said. “Devin Booker wants to be there. … Devin Booker wants to be there his whole career.”
- Doug Haller of The Athletic examines Phoenix’s trade deadline and path forward, writing that a Durant trade and roster reconstruction seem all but inevitable after the current group has failed to meet expectations.
- According to Bourguet, the Suns aren’t enthusiastic about any of their current options on the buyout market (Twitter link). Phoenix is unable to sign any buyout candidate who earns more than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception because the team is over the second tax apron.
- On the same Hoop Collective podcast, Windhorst, Bontemps and MacMahon all expressed surprise that Phoenix traded its unprotected 2031 first-round pick to Utah for three lower-value first-rounders without having a specific move lined up afterward. In a full story for ESPN.com (Insider link), a Western Conference scout told Bontemps he was just as confused by that trade. “The Phoenix piece is just fascinating,” the scout said. “They made that trade with the draft pick and didn’t have anything [ready] to do with it?“
- Appearing on NBA Today (Twitter video link), ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne described the Suns’ locker room as “toxic” and said Wednesday’s shootaround in Oklahoma City was “very awkward, very weird” as players were unsure who would still be around past the deadline.